Electric railway and signaling system therefor.



L. H. THULLEN.

ELECTRIC RAILWAY AND -SIGNALING SYSTEM THBRBFOR.

APPLICATION FILED MAES, 1906.

. Patented Apr. 7, 1914 eluded in and i'orin part of the return'path"muren STATES rrrrnn'r ernten.

Louis H. 'r1-.runnin or 'nnenwoon PENNSYLVANIA, Assrsrron To man unionswrron a srcfrmn. COMPANY, or swissvALn, PENNSYLVAMA, A conronerrorr 0FPENNSYLVANIA.

ELECTRIC RAILWAY AND SIGNAIIING" SYS'II'EM;4 THEREFR.

LQZAIL y v Specification of Letters Patent.

Application led March 3, 1906. Serial No. 303,944.

To all whom it muy concern Be it known that I, LOUIS H. THULLEma citizenot the United Sta-tes, residing at Edgewood, in the county of Alleghenyand Stato ot' Pennsylvania, have inventedv certain new and usefulImprovements in Electric Railways and Signaling Systems Therefor, ofwhich the followingis a specification.

My invention relates to signaling systems for railways wherein the trackrails are divided by suitable insulation to form block sectionsforsignaling purposes and are inor conductor to the generator for thecurrent employedV for propelling motor. vehicles along the railway.

My invention herein relates to means for protecting the inductive bondsor other devices for from one block section to another and theelectrical apparatus connected with the track rails and included in thesignaling system from a, dangerous unbalancing of the resistance in thetrack rails to the flow of propulsion current there along.

I will describe an electric railwayand signaling systemthereforembodying my invention and then point out the novel fea- E so ' mentbeing the equivalent tures thereof in claims. In thev accompanyingdrawing,FigureV l is a diagrammatical View of a portion of an electricrailway, the track rails of which are' divided by insulation to formblock sections,of inductive bonds for transmitting the propulsioncurrent from the rails of one block section to' another, and a signalingsystem embodying my invention applied to the railway. Fig. 2 is a detaildiagranimatical View of a different form which my invention may assume.

Similar reference characters designate corresponding parts in all of thefigures. Referring nowV to the drawings, A desigfnates a portion of arailway which is divided into sections, X, Y, Z, etc. These sections aregenerally termed block or track sections axid I will hereinafter referto them as block sections. These block .sections are formed by insertingvinsulation a. in some form at determined points inv one or both of thetraffic rails, the one arrangeof the other so far asblock sections isconcerned, and both Nhein-n"A well known the art. In the draw-Conducting propulsion current' l o n l ing I have shown insulation. ainserted 1n.

both of the traffic rails. v

m, m1,- g/, y; al, a, designate the track rails of each block section.

P designates a generator of current for themotor vehiclestraveling alongthe rail.- way. In the drawings I have illustrated the generator asheilig a generatorof alternatlng current.

T designates/a trolley ror third rail con`J- nected with one pole of thepower generator and extending along the railway in a usual and Wellknown manner. The tra-ck rails of the'railway, one or both, form thereturn path or conductor for t e `propulsion current employed for themotor cars. The propulsion current is conducted around the points ofinsulation by means ot' inductive bonds.

bond being of such constructionl and arrangement as to afford a ath oflow ohmic resistance tor-the ropu sion current. A form of bond wbic Ipreferably employ when both of the' track railsf are divided byYinsulation is described and' illustrated inmyco-pendingapplication'filed the 27th of February, 190'6, Serial No.303,203., and which is also diagrammatic'ally illustrated Patented Apr."3, 19rd.v

art of n Each inductive bond prefl erably comprises a core anda Winding,the

in my applications filed February 5th, 1901i,

Serial Nos. '192,145 and 192,146. These bonds, generally stated, eachcomprise al laminated iron core which may or may not have an openmagnetic circuit depending upon con-dltions, and a copper Windlng of afew turns, all the turns being in the saine direction and located on thesame portion of the core. The ends of a winding ot' an inductive bondare connected with the track rails ot' a block section, while a`conductor extends from the middle point of the winding, and whichconductor is arranged to be connected to the middle point of the windingof an adjacent bond. In the drawing I have diagrammatically illustratedthe bonds and their connections# B, B1, B2, B3, etc., designate thebonds. Z) designates the core thereof, and b1 the winding. '1'

b2 designates a conductor joining the iniddle points of two adjacentcoils. This con ductor, as will be seen, may be common to two adjacentcoils.

The track rails (of the railway) of course,

ico

"mid, dle' points or\in at their middle ,points and out at their ends inreverse or eppoi-tite directions, the result being that` tlievcores argriot appreciably magnetized, so that the ,bonds may be used asimpedances foralter-v nating signaling currents which may be used in thetrack circuits. This has been all set forth in my applicationshereinbefore referred to, Serial Nos. 192,145 and 192,146.

In the signaling system I employ a track circuit for each block sectionwhich, as usual, comprises a source -of signaling current, a

" relay and the track rails of the block section or portions of them,the source of signaling current, relay and track rails being in seriescircuit. I preferably employ an alternating signaling current in eachtrack circuit and in the Vevent that alternating current is used forpropulsion purposes the alternating signaling current of the trackcircuit is of a different frequency from the frequency of the propulsioncurrent. In any event, the relay or translating device is constructed tol respond to control its signal as to one of itsy movements to thesignaling current of the track circuit, or the relay` may be protectedby apparatus or devices which will prevent its being loperated by thecar propulsion current.

P1 designatesa generator for alternating signaling current, and p, p1,conductors eX- tending therefrom along the-line of railway.

Q, Q1, etc., designate step-downgtransformers, one being provided foreach block section. ing alternating signaling current to the trackcircuits of the block sections, and pref'- erably the transformer forcach block section will be located at about the middle point of thetrack circuit of the blockfsection, so that it will supply alternating'sig-- nalin'g current to both ends of the track circuit,

R, R1, etc., designate translating devices or., as I shall hereinafterterm them, re lays. Each relay as shown comprises a field coil 9'embracing a field and an armature coil r1. The field coil is energizedby current from one end of the track circuit and the armature-coil fromthe other end of the track circuit and preferably through a step-uptransforming device, here shown as transformer and designated M. llVhenThese transformers are for supply-A the field and armature coils aresimultane ously energized from the alternating signaling current thearmature will be moved in a direction to close a local circuit, and wheneither or both of the coils are denergized from, any cause, as forexample, when the wheels and axles of a car are bridging the track railsof the track circuit, the armature will move to open the local. circuit.

A track circuit may be traced as follows, taking as an example the trackcircuit of the block section Y: Starting from one terminal of thesecondary of the transformer Q, one half of the track circuit is wire 1,track rail y, wire 2, field coil r of relay R, wire 3, track rail y1,and wire 4 to the other terminal of the transformer. lThe v'other halfof the track circuit from the secondary of the transformer is wire v1,track rail y, wire 5, a conducting part nl of an automatic cut out4 tobe hereinafter described, wire 6,

primary lof stepup transformer M, wire 7 to track rail y1 and wire 4.The iiow of the signaling current through the track circuits isindicated by the feathered arrows.

The local circuits 7 her'einbefore referred to as being controlled bythe relays include Athe operating mechanism of railway signal, should itbe an automatically operated signal. This is well understood in the artand will not be further described.

.55, S1, etc., designate the railway signals which may be any of thewell known automatic types.` The railway signals are diagrammaticallyillustrated as being of the semaphore type.. v

So. far l have merely described the ar rangement of the'track rails toform block sections and a part of the return path or conductor for thepropulsion current and a signaling system which may be employed. The

flow of propulsion current to the generator l) from the cars isindicated by the plain arrows and the flow of alternating 'signalingcurrent' in the track circuits is indicated by the feathered arrows. Nocar or train is illustratedyand thecircuits of the signaling system andapparatus thereof will be as illustrated. Should a car or train enter ablock section, the wheels and axles thereof will "short circuit thealternating signaling current of the track circuit of that block sectionfrom the eld and armature coils, or either one of them, thus causing thearmature of the relay to move and open the local circuitr ofthe railwaysignal to have the signal device thereof move to its danger osition.This condition of the circuits an apparatus will remain so long `as thecar'or train remains in the block section. After 1t mbjves out of theblock section the alternatsignaling current again energizes the coils ofthe relay to have its armature again move to close the local circuit ofthe railway signal so as to have the signal device move ist notarili lalternating signaling current is shunted roin the relay, as forexampleby the wheels and axles of a car or train, the `relay beingdenergized, its armature `moves to open the localcircuit of the relay tohave the railway signal again operate to. give another indication,usually a danger-indication. Thus it willbe seen that the relay respondsto control a railway signal to the absence or pres ence, so to speak, ofthe energizing e'ect of the aiternating signaling current. This is allwell understoodin the` art. The con struction of the impedance bonds andthe electrical apparatus connected with the track rails is such that anyreasonable unbalancing of the resistance in the tr'ack railsy to whichthey are connected, will not alect the Y bonds in their function asimpedances to the alternatingsignaling current or the electricalapparatus. n-short, thebonds'and electrical apparatus are constructedrtomeet the usual conditions. Should, however, there be any dangerousunbalancing of the 'resistanees in the track rails at any point due to abroken rail, or `very poor bonding between the rail sections of onetrack rail, or the-in terposition of a high resistance in one of thetrack rails or the disconnection of one -terminal of a Winding'of aninductive bond in the block section, or from any other abnormal cause,the propulsion currentv might aiiect the bonds or apparatus to have themoperate improperly. A dangerous unbalancing of the resistance in thetrack rails in the form of invention illustrated at a point in a blocksection causes more of the propulsion current to flow through one half'or part of the winding of one or both impedancebonds of the blocksection, thus causing magnetization of the cores and thereby im airingtheir efficiency as impedancesto the a ternating signaling current. Whenthis occurs, where A. C. propulsion current is 'used on the track rails,the impedance bondsof the block section act as auto-transformers and ahigh potential or voltage is created at the terminals of their windingswhich tends to apply a greater voltage and current to the electricalapparatus connected with the track'rails, which would be seriouslydetri` mental to such electrical apparatus. For example, suppose therail y of block section Y to be broken at the point designated by the.arrow N, or there was a high resistance or Y seine other trouble in therail fz/ at that point,

through the lower half of the winding of the bond B1` and along rail y1and the lower half of the winding of the bond B2 at the other end of theblock section to the next iinpedance bond B3. erated by the winding B1would flow in a circuit which may be traced as follows: from one end-ofthe Wiriding of bond B1, through wire 10, track rail y, WreQ, coil r,wired, rail y1, and wire 11 to the other end of the winding. The currentflowing, caused by the otential at the terminal of the impedance ondB2,under the conditions stated, would flow in a circuit which may betraced as follows: from one end of the winding ot the bond AB2 throughwire l2, track rail ij/Wires 5 and 6, primary of transformer M, ,wire 7,trackrail @il and wire 13 tothe other end of the winding. The currentsiiowing in these circuits will be of a higher voltage than that requiredof the current to operate the electrical apparatus.

"My present invention is to prevent injury to the inductive bond andelectrical apparatus connected with the track rails of a block sectionshould this dangerous unbalancing. of the resistance occur inthe trackrails of a block section. I accomplish this by what l term an automaticcut out which is preferably electrically controlled or operated, orelectrically controlled and operated. N1, designates such a device. lnthe drawing l have shown one such device adjacent each inductive bond.This automatic cut out acts whenthere is a dangerous unbalancing of thecar propulsion current in the track rails of a block section to shortcircuit the bond (establish a short circuit between the' track rails)and to either open the local circuit of the railway signal to have itgive a danger indication, open the circuit of the relay to denergize it,in which case it will open the local circuit of thera'ilway signal tohave the railway signal give a dangerv indication,

or otherwise affect4 the railway fsifgnal to have it 'give a dangerindication;

As shown in Figs'. 1 and 2, the automatic cut out comprises anelectro-ma 'l etic 'device The current thus genicc n, and a part nl,which is in e ect a circuit controller, and when operated b y theelectro'- ma natia device opens a loca [circuit of a rai way ,signal(see the devic N adjacent Vthe bonds B1, B) or the circui` of thearmature of the relay (see the devi e N adjacent the bonds B, B2 B4) andto elo 'e a short ein cuit on the bond. The electro magnetic de vice n,is shown as asolenoid axid the part nl as a conductor moving between twosets of contact points. vI do not wish` to limit myself to anyparticular form of automatic cut dut [and the form of device shown isdia- Any form of de ice may be grammatic. employed which acts when theris a danger- Gueunbalancing of resistance between the `rails of a blocksection to short cirr-,mt the ist ' in a shunt circuit with a winding ofan inductive bond, such circuit including the winding of the bond, wiresl and 16, and the ywinding of the electro-magnetic device.

The conducting part nl moves bctwcencon tact points 20, 2l, 23., and thepartial when against the points 20, 2l, forms Apart of either the localcircuit of a railway signal or part of the track circuit as' the casemay be. The part nlwvhen against the contact points 22, 23, orris partof a short circuit for the impedance' bond with which it is associated.This short circuit may be traced as follows: from one track rail of ablock section-to wire l5, a few turns ot the electromagnetic device,wire 30, contact points 22,

23 and part n and wire 16 to the other track rail of the block sect-ion.Thus it will be seen that when the part n is against the contacts 22,23, it is heldin that position by rea son of the circuit including a fewturns of the electro-magnetic device.

in Fig. 2, l/ have shown a modification of my` inventit? Theelectro-magnetic device n 'or some the turns thereof is included in acircuit with a winding n provided on the core of a bond. l In thisarrangement each bond is in elliect, under the dangerous conditionsabovestated, a transformer. The short circuit for the bond is the saine asdcscribed in connection with Fig. l. Thus in this form when there is adangerous unbal anoing of the resistance in the track rails of a blocksection, the inductive bond adjacent that point acts on the adjacent.device N and a short circuit is established around the bond, therebysaving it from' the action of the highfpotential due to the unbalanciugof the resistance of the rails.

Inftlie usual operation of the system, thc devices'ilf are wound orarranged so as not to be operated by the ordinary nnbalancing ofresistance in the track rails, that is, they are not operatedgunder thcusual conditions, and are only operated Where there is a dangerousunbalancing of tlieresistance.

instead of having the part n open the local circuit of the railwaysignal or the cir- -cuit of the relay, it may only establish a shortcircuit across the track rails of the block section, which being oflower' resistance than other circuit in the block section, ierinits ofall currents in the track rails ad- ;acent the short circuit flowingthrough it rather than the other circuits and the elec- `rical appar:tus in such circuits connected give-a danger indication or the automaticcut out upon its operation -niay be made to affect the,V railway signalto have it give a.

danger indication.

WhatI claim as my invention is: i

1.'The combination with the track rails of a 'railway both o f which aredivided into b lock sections by insulation and conduct propulsioncurrent in one direction and o. signaling current in oppositedirections, in ductive bonds for conducting the propulsion current fromthe track rails of one block section to another, and means adjacent cachinductive bond and operated upon an un-A balancin establishin a shortcircuit across the rails of thelbloc section.

y2. The combination with the track rails of a railway both of which aredivided into block sect-ions by insulation and conduct propulsioncurrent in one direction and a signaling current in opposite directions,inductive bonds for conducting the propulsionecurrent from the trackrailsof` one block section to another, a railwaysignal for each blocksection vand means ifi each block section for establishing a shortcircuit across the track rails of the block section where there is adangerous unbalancing of the resistance ot' such rails and for affectingthe railway signal to have it give a danger indication.

The combination with the track rails of a railway divided by insulationto form block sections for signaling purposes and conducting power.current, inductive bonds rent around insulation points, railway signais,and means operated upon a dangerousI of the resistance in the rails forunbalancing of the resistance in the track 1 5. The combination with ingthe propulsion -propulsion current from one-blocksection to track railsfor establishing short circuits around the bonds adjacent the point ofdangerous unbalancing and to affect a railway signal adjacent the samepoint to give'a danger indication.

the track rails of' a railway divided by insulation to forni 4blocksections for Signaling purposes and conducting power current, inductivebondsin the track for conducting the power current aroundinsulationpoints, railway signals, and means in each block for controlling thepotential at the inductive bonds produced by Jthe power current and dueto unusual resistance in one of the track rails.' f

6. rlhe combination with the track rails of a railway divided byinsulation to form block sections for signaling purposes and conductingpower current, inductive bonds in the track for conducting the powercurrent around insulation points, railway signais, means in each blockfor controllingthe potential at the inductive bonds produced by thepower current and due to unusualilresistance in one of the track rails,and for causing an operation of a railwa silgnal to give a dangerindication when suc i potential occurs.

7. ln a signaling system for electric railways both lines of rails ofwhich are in eluded in the circuit of the propulsion current and aredivided block sections, inductive bonds for conductcurrent from thetrack rails of one section balancing of the resistance of the trackrails for 'establishing a short circuit across the rails of the blocksection.

8. ln a signaling system for electric railways both lines of railsofwhich are included in the circuit of the propulsion current and aredivided by insulations to form block sections, means for conducting thethe track rails of the track rails of an adjacent section, and means foreach section operative upon a dangerous unbalancing of the flow ofpropulsion current inthe track rails of such section forshort-circuiting the track rails of such section. y

9. ln a signaling system for electric railways both lines of rails ofwhich are included in the circuit of the propulsion current and aredivided by insulations to form block sections, inductive bonds forconducting the propulsion current from the track rails of an adjacentsection, and means adjacent each bond and operative upon a dangercusunbalancing of the flow of propulsion current through the bond forshortby insulations to orm to the track rails of an- -adjacent section,and means adgiacent each inductive bond and operated upon an untionoperative upon a circuitingthe track rails of the corresponding blocksection.

10. In a signaling system for electric railways both cluded in thecircuit of the propulsion current and are divided by insulationsto`forni block sections, inductive bonds for conducting the propulsioncurrent from the track rails of one section to the track rails of anadjacent section, and means tor each secdangerous unbalancing of theresistance of the track rails of such section for short-circuiting thetrack rails of such section.

,11. ln a signaling system for electric railways both lines of rails ofwhich are in.

ycluded' in the circuit of the propulsion current and are divided byinsulationto form block sections, means for conducting the propulsioncurrent yfrom the track-rails of one block section to the track rails ofan adjacent hlock section, and electromagnetic means` forshortcircuiting the track rails yof a block section when a dangerousunbalancing of the flow of propulsion current occurs in the track railsof suoli a section.

12. In combination, an electric railway the track rails ot which areincluded in the circuit'of the propulsion current, and means responsiveto a predetermined diil'erence of potential of the propulsion current inthe track rails for establishing a connection across the track rails.

13, ln combination, an electric railway the track rails of which areincluded in the circuit of the\propulsion current, and are divided to'form block sections, signals, for the block sections, means for'conducting propulsion current from the track rails of one block sectionto the track rails of another block section, and` mea s 'for .each blocksection responsive to a p're eterrnined diiierence of potential ot thepropulsion current in the track rails of the block seetion for causingthe signal for that block section to indicate danger.l

` LGUIS Tl. TH'ULLEN.

Witnesses HENRY E. BAUER, HERMAN Weense lines of rails of, which are in'

